College volleyball: Golden Eagles split, earn key win over Mavericks

UMC lost 3-0 to top-ranked Concordia, St. Paul and beat Minnesota State 3-0 in Crookston.

Times Report

The Golden Eagles split the weekend's two matches, falling 3-0 to top-ranked Concordia, St. Paul and beating Minnesota State 3-0 in Crookston.

Now 7-8 on the season and 2-5 against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents, UMC travels to face MSU Moorhead Friday, Oct. 11 and Northern State Saturday, Oct. 12.

UMC vs. CSP

UMC fell 3-0 (25-10, 25-23, 25-14) to No. 1 Concordia, St. Paul, the six-time defending NCAA Division II National Champions, Friday night at Lysaker Gymnasium. The Golden Eagles were one of three teams so far this conference season to score over 20 in a set against the Golden Bears.

UMC was led by one of the best nights in the career of Brittany Looker (Jr., OH, Rochester, Minn.), who held strong for the Golden Eagles, especially in the second set in which she had seven kills. Looker would finish with 14 kills overall and hit .256 for the match. Freshman Erin Schwarz (MH, Eden Prairie, Minn.), who started for the Golden Eagles, played a solid match as well with four kills, one solo block and three block assists. Setter Sierra Trost (Fr., Ham Lake, Minn.) helped the Golden Eagles to a .146 attack percentage and had 25 helpers for the match.

Defensively, UMC's all-time digs leader Chelsea Wiesner (Sr., Rochester, Minn.) led the way with 10 digs while Schwarz led the block with one solo block and three block assists. Looker added two block assists for the match.

Concordia had a balanced attack in which they hit .370 for the match. Emily McDonough led the Golden Bears with 14 kills and hit .519 for the match with no errors. Heather Schiller, sister of former UMC player Hannah Schiller, had 12 kills and hit .500 while All-American right side hitter Kayla Koenecke had 11 kills and hit .333. All-American setter Amanda Konetchy paced Concordia with 48 assists.

Defensively, Koenecke led the way with 13 digs while libero Taylor Dordan chipped in 12.

UMC vs. MSU

If the University of Minnesota Crookston's 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-23) sweep of perennial Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball power Minnesota State University, Mankato looked familiar, that is because it should. The Golden Eagles swept the Mavericks 3-0 just two years ago on Sept. 30, 2011 in what was widely considered one of the program's best victories ever over then No. 13 Minnesota State. That match also took place on homecoming and the outcome was the same, the only difference was the Mavericks did not come into the match ranked.

The Golden Eagles came out from the gate poised to get a win over Minnesota State, a match many UMC player had marked on their calendars. UMC out-hit the Mavericks .286 to .147 for the match led by a balanced attack led by Looker, who had 12 kills while Morgan VanGerpen (Jr., MH, Overland Park, Kan.) was both a force offensively and defensively as she had nine kills and hit .600 for the match with no errors and also led the UMC block with five solo blocks and a block assist. Alexandra Skeeter (Sr., OH, Milwaukee, Wis.) added eight kills and hit .300 while Maggie Perrel (Fr., RS, New Germany, Minn.) chipped in seven kills and hit .375.

UMC played phenomenal in system led by a strong game from Trost, who continues to progress for UMC as she had 35 assists. Defensively, Wiesner paced the Golden Eagles with 17 digs while Skeeter added 13. UMC had seven solo blocks and four block assists led by VanGerpen's five solos and one block assist.

Minnesota State struggled to get in system all game long because of the strong play of UMC as they hit just .147 for the match with 37 kills and 37 errors. Krista Hassing paced the Mavericks with eight kills and hit .727. Tiana Runck added six kills while Lexi Platz had seven. Setter Elli Van De Steeg finished with 32 helpers for the Mavericks.

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